#lies and loss

[blueberryshelves]

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Book Review

Title:  The Poison Season Author: Mara Rutherford

Series: Standalone

No. of Pages: 390

ISBN: 978-1-335-01243-2

Synopsis:

Outsiders are always given a choice: the Forest or the lake. Either way, they're never heard from again.

Leelo has spent her entire life on Endla, coexisting with the bloodthirsty Forest and respecting the poisonous lake that protects her island from outsiders who seek to destroy it. But as much as Leelo cares for her community, she struggles to accept that her younger brother will be exiled by his next birthday, unless he gains the magic of enchanted song so vital to Endla.

When Leelo sees a young outsider on the verge of drowning in the lake, she knows exactly what she's supposed to do. But in a moment that will change everything, Leelo betrays her family, her best friend, and Endla by making an unthinkable choice.

Discovery could lead to devastating consequences for both Leelo and the outsider, Jaren, but as they grow closer, Leelo realizes that not all danger comes from beyond the lake—and they can only survive if Leelo is willing to question the very fabric of her society, her people, and herself.

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What did I think of the book?

The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 of 5 stars I picked this up wanting something different, and with the gorgeous cover, I dived into the world of Endla. At first, the story was really slow going, but as soon as you hit that 50% mark, everything starts to pick up, and I wanted to flip through page after page all day to see what would happen. If anything, in the last 3rd of the book, I felt like I couldn't catch my breath with the amount of revelations and secrets that were brought to light in the story. On one hand, that kind of tension was exciting, but it was also teetering slightly too far over the line into being muddy with the details. Eliminating maybe one or two of the twists could have cleaned it up a little, but that's the only real negative I can say about this book. The romance between Leelo and Jaren was very wholesome and clean, and had my heart aching as I read their scenes. It made for quite a nice contrast with what was going on with the relationships on Endla before the secrets started unraveling, and flowed well into the themes of 'torn between loyalties', your heart or your responsibilities, and carving a path for yourself in life when your world is demanding other things from you. I also enjoyed how this book touched on things like the way generational lies and fear impact the young.

Endla reminds me a bit of the carnivorous island in Life of Pi, but with a fair few differences that in a lot of ways makes it scarier, in my opinion. I quite enjoyed the world building around this, and the author did an awesome job in bringing out a vivid picture of what this island is like in the book. Some of my favorite scenes that show this would be chapter 23, pages 141-142, and chapter 30, page 188.

… The bird cocked its head at Jaren, studying him, and this time when he hummed the tune, he remembered a few more notes than he'd sung before. But his elation was short-lived. One moment the bird was there, innocently watching him, and the next, it was gone. Jaren hadn't seen the long, snaking root rise up from the ground and wrap silently around the bird's leg until it was too late. He stood, horrified, but the only sign that the bird had ever been there at all was a few shiny feathers, drifting slowly to the Forest floor. Jaren backed up to the shack and crawled inside, closing the door firmly behind him. - page 141-142

These scenes are layered into more "innocent" ones, where the characters are unsuspecting or minding their own business, so it kind of catches you off-guard when something like the above quote happens. It was like a constant reminder to not forget the nature of this island the characters are on, which when I was really immersed into the story, gave me absolute chills.

Favorite character/s: I don't have a particular favorite, but I admire the character development in Leelo as she goes from being constantly controlled by her family, people, and her home, to finding her own self and strength by the end of the story. Same for her mother as well, when she finally stood up to her sister in the end, and put her daughter before everyone else's lies.

What drew me to this book? The title of the book, it sparked my curiosity immediately.

Stars: Easy 4 out of 5 stars, a wonderful read.

View all my reviews

[zishuge]

The only thing I remember is killing people. You say I'm someone who saves people. I won't kill you — but I don't believe you either. Do you think I'm a fool? You're not a fool. Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023) | Ep. 20

[keii4ii]

"Someone's last words" - minicomic, post-RoP

[eyo-its-li]

NIKI NIHACHU DUMP!!

[lazorbeanz]

Y’know what would be nice?

If that the series ended off with Knuckles returning home to Sonic, Tails and Maddie, and (after the rapid fire of questions and scolding for running away which is most likely prone to happen lol) begins to tell them about how he realised he isn’t living with them just to fulfil a vow of protecting the M.E anymore, but rather because he finally found his home

He explains how he finally understands the definition of “home” and what makes one

And if it’s anywhere he is most at home (since losing his tribe), it’s in the small town of Green Hills, with the Wachowski family, because with them is where his place of belonging lies…they are his home, and always were from the moment they took him in

Yeah, I think that would be nice

[valhelos]

snafu

[r1-jw-lover]

Happy PRIDE month to PDL's butch protagonists and their femme wives

[Start ID: From left to right, official art of Qi Yan/Qiyan Agula, Nangong Jingnu, Lin Wanyue and Li Xian from baihe novels "泾渭情殇/Clear and Muddy Loss of Love" and "女将军和长公主/Female General and Eldest Princess" by author 请君莫笑/Please Don't Laugh. Art credit to @/meltesh28 and @/piojooojo. End ID.]

[mx-autumn]

oh GL!niki n GL!ranbbo ily

[smokestarrules]

Suletta saying love me. love me please. I’ll do anything. I’ll kill for you, I’ll listen to you, I love you. love me and let me stay. vs Miorine going hate me. hate me. I need you to hate me because I love you. I need you to run away, to stop loving me, to be safe. hate me and it will be worth it in the end. hate me and leave. (Suletta saying love me, please love me, please don’t leave me)

[kaiju-krew]

I need to ask, png or jpg?

png always

dont ask me why though i have no idea if it's actually better quality i've just been doing it this way for years.....

i have heard that high quality jpgs or tiffs are better for printed art so i may try that next time i get prints done and see how it goes🤔

[wheniseeyoucry]

thank you for listening to me . some things are hard to say out loud but you make it easier.

[primprimandprim]

My partner’s family has been bragging about this win. Cousins we thought supported us gladly telling us they voted trump and we should still be close despite it.

I keep apologizing. I keep telling myself if I wasn’t trans, maybe she would feel the need to cut so many ties with people she loved growing up. I can’t escape this feeling that it’s my fault she keeps losing family members.

I know it’s not true. I know she’d be gay and disabled even if I wasn’t trans. But it’s still me. I’m the fucking queer point of contention. I introduced her to the queer community.

Now my partner is effectively an only child and I can’t stop thinking that that’s my fault.

[keii4ii]

My Lies of P experience, part A

[trexalicious]

2021 vs 2024 and I'm wondering why. We've NEVER seen her rewear anything memorable let alone a formal gown. Why now? It's obviously been tailored (shockingly) to her new much smaller Ozempic body...

[blue-thief]

he should have been at the club

[nutcasewithaknife]

It's been said before a dozen ways but I still can't get over how stuck Di Feisheng and Li Lianhua are. Di Feisheng has been stuck fighting and surviving since the moment he was taken into Di manor. Li Lianhua has been stuck keeping himself unknowable, unreachable ever since he blamed himself for his brother's death and so much more. They are both people who clawed their way out of awful, hopeless situations by defining for themselves who exactly they wanted to be. Di Feisheng had decided long before the Donghai battle that he will be a man who cannot be used by others by becoming the strongest. In the aftermath of the battle, Li Xiangyi had to face that he never quite found his purpose, and finds it in keeping his distance from everyone else, enjoying the little things of life on the way to atoning for his past mistakes. So many thing challenge their perception of the world and themselves in this story, but they can't just change immediately. Their inflexibly strong sense of self is the thing that helps them live, but also the thing they can't let go of. Li Lianhua is as much a survivor as Di Feisheng is and Di Feisheng is as stuck as Li Lianhua is. Li Lianhua was always going to atone and leave, and Di Feisheng was always going to wait for a promised fight.